ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the peninsular dimension of the Union of the Crowns. A period of socio-genesis for the two nationalities; then a union imposed unilaterally by one side to the detriment of the other; finally, a process of liberation giving way to the creation of a situation that fits the results of the aforementioned socio-genesis. The Union of the Crowns led certain Portuguese jurisconsults to come up with a more solid definition of the kingdom’s law, by emphasising all that distinguished the latter from the one in effect in Castile. The production of arguments aimed at legitimating the rupture of the Union of the Crowns contributed decisively to the definition of a Portuguese identity that was different from the Castilian identity, if not from the Spanish one. The agreements forged with the institutions of the Portuguese monarchy served principally to ensure that the new King of Portugal observed the kingdom’s jurisdictional autonomy.
